Patterntech – our new Amber campaign (was powered by Everway, now returned to ADRPG)

[Norbert G. Matausch]

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We're starting our new "Amber Diceless" campaign on Monday. After a 20-year hiatus, we're finally playing Amber again. But not with the Amber Diceless rules. This time around, I'll be using the Everway rpg rules.

Everway has been a reliable source of fun for us for a very long time. Ever since the game was published (1995), we've been using it (on and off) for a lot of different genres: Hong Kong action, Shadowrun, Cyberpunk, heroic fantasy, horror.

"Patterntech" is the name of the campaign, and it starts the player characters on Shadow Earth, set a hundred thousand years from now. Cross-shadow movement exists, but to the characters, it's hyperspace travel. Magic has made a frightening comeback, and there are old gods that have awakened from their dreams.

The player characters all start in one of the many Houses of Nobility. They have no clue what Amber is, what the Courts of Chaos are, what Pattern is, what the Logrus means, and so on. These are secrets that will be discovered in due time. For now, all they know is, they're living in Terra City, on planet Earth, with a dozen different routes into hyperspace (=adjacent Shadows).

We're using the Everway rules, with a few tweaks. The biggest and most important rule change is the Attribute Auction, or better: Element Auction. 100 points, just like in the Amber Diceless rules. When the bidding war is over, I divide the scores by 5 to get down to Everway level. With the rest of their points (20-sum), they're going to buy their Powers, artifacts and creatures.

Everway, and Amber as well (when played like Erick advised) is essentially a freeform game. And that's right up our alley. I'm stoked!

Here's the audio teaser I made for the game. It's in German, but I think it sounds pretty cool.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uQhIIsZmq-LYyua6QUGotrbWf9VqVqH3/view

****** EDIT

Well well well... change is the only constant, they say, and they're right (whoever they may be). Something about the rules did not feel right, so I tweaked and tweaked... and, finally, dropped them altogether.

What I'm using now is Arref Mak's super-tight 17 Canon Attribute system, an elegant and genius twist of regular Amber Diceless. It rolls attributes, powers, artifacts, sorcery and all the other subsystems of ADRPG into 17 attributes. You can model the books really well with it, way better than the original four attributes plus powers. I had Aref's system sitting on my harddrive for, what, 12 years. And today, I finally remembered them. Perfect, and they go well with the Everway Fortune deck.

[Panjumanju]

What I'm using now is Arref Mak's super-tight 17 Canon Attribute system, an elegant and genius twist of regular Amber Diceless. It rolls attributes, powers, artifacts, sorcery and all the other subsystems of ADRPG into 17 attributes. You can model the books really well with it, way better than the original four attributes plus powers. I had Aref's system sitting on my harddrive for, what, 12 years. And today, I finally remembered them. Perfect, and they go well with the Everway Fortune deck.

My first instinct to anyone trying to do Amber without the rules, is, of course: Booooooooooooo! But I'm trying to remain open-minded. Where is this Hack you speak of? What is its history? If it has been on your harddrive for 12 years, there must be a story.

//Panjumanju

[Norbert G. Matausch]

Panjumanju,

absolutely, there is a history between Aref's 17 Attribute rules and me
I always wanted to simplify Amber Diceless and turn the powers into a more freeform approach. Aref's fine little system does this, and stays close to the original rules. Or, at least so close that old Amber hands won't have any problems finding their way through them.

The blog posts on the rules are here: https://intheshadowofgreatness.wordpress.com/category/17-canon-attrib/

Let me know what you think about it. We're playing tonight, so the 17 Attributes can show what they're made of

[Norbert G. Matausch]

This is our first Amber Diceless session protocol, written on May 17, 1993. Almost 26 years ago. Beautiful.
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[Headless]

I followed the link to the 17 Atribute system.  Didn't find it.

[Panjumanju]

I followed the link to the 17 Atribute system.  Didn't find it.

I think I found the list on another page, here: https://intheshadowofgreatness.wordpress.com/2006/01/08/amber_drpg_revi_1/

I'm copy/pasting from the site, to cite:

Warfare: your expertise with tool driven conflict of sentients and arms and the analysis thereof. Benedict is ranked.
Strength: your expertise with body driven conflict of contact and natural arms and the analysis thereof. Gerard is ranked.
Psyche: your expertise with mind driven conflict of perception and intangible senses and the analysis thereof. Brand is ranked.
Endurance: your expertise with health driven conflict of stamina and survival and the analysis thereof. Corwin is ranked.
Karma (formerly Stuff): your relationship with the vagaries of the universe. Random is ranked. Note that 'Everway' and/or your game may substitute a deck of cards for this attribute.
Shadows (formerly personal shadows): your expertise in the infinite contents and topography of shadow. This does not provide an innate connection to shadow and does not give sensory data. Julian is ranked.
Secrets: your expertise of the workings and mysteries of Real Things and keeping them hidden. Oberon is ranked.
Discovery: your expertise in the relationships of Real Things to each other and revealing them. Caine is ranked.
Coup (formerly allies/devotees): your expertise in known prestige, face, and politics and the analysis thereof. Because this is a public attribute it may be fluxed by events the GM arbitrates. Example: horrible defeats in other attribute conflicts may decrease Coup. Eric is ranked.

The following attributes (which might be termed powers) involve special training and require the Player narrate to GM (who may veto elements) how they acquired the skill set:

Pattern: mastery of intangibles called Order. Benedict is ranked.
Logrus: mastery of intangibles called Tendril. Suhuy is ranked.
Trump: mastery of memory association called Real. Brand is ranked.
Shaping: mastery of Lifeform. Dara is ranked.
Sorcery (formerly conjuration, sorcery, power words): mastery of Magic. Fiona is ranked.
Mirror: mastery of Image and Dimension. Llewella is ranked.
Binding (formerly items/creatures): mastery of Crafting. Julian is ranked.
Jewel of Judgment: mastery of Inspiration. Dworkin is ranked.

That's pretty much it.

[Norbert G. Matausch]

Yup, that's the system in a nutshell.

After playing our first session of our new campaign yesterday, I've come to the conclusion that I'll switch back to Amber Diceless. It's more... concrete, more down to earth and less lofty, if that makes sense. Yep, seeing the characters in the good ole ADRPG format triggers a massive wave of nostalgia AND anticipation.

Good times!

[Panjumanju]

I immediately reject the idea of Secrets, Discovery, and Coup being Attributes. How would you do an Auction for that? It would tell you who to trust, who was most likely to lead a coup, etc. That takes a lot of the intelligence out of play.

//Panjumanju

[Norbert G. Matausch]

I immediately reject the idea of Secrets, Discovery, and Coup being Attributes. How would you do an Auction for that? It would tell you who to trust, who was most likely to lead a coup, etc. That takes a lot of the intelligence out of play.
//Panjumanju

I respectfully disagree. Lots and LOTS of Ambercon players have tried that system, and it worked beautifully. That said, we tried it, and it just didn't click with me (my players liked it, though).

Just downloaded your Masters of the Universe game, Panjumanju. WOW! Really cool. This is going on our bucket list of games. Thanks for sharing.

[LarsonGates]

I use a ruleset derived from the old "Net Book of Amber" originally put together by "The Fixer" and john Biles amongst others.. full rules as in their current incarnation are on my web site (which Finnvan still hasn't added to the links despite indicating he would 18 months ago) http://www.azer.co.uk/amber/amber.html